WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is expanding the range of companies that will qualify for its soon-to-begin Main Street Lending Program, in which the Fed will lend directly to individual companies for the first time since the Great Depression.

Under the changes announced Monday, the Fed will lower the minimum amount companies can borrow, from $500,000 to $250,000. And it's raising the maximum loan, from $200 million to $300 million, for companies that want to expand existing loans. The Fed will also extend the program's loan repayment period from four years to five.

All told, the changes...